2025 Yarova attack

Yarova is located in northern Donetsk Oblast, about 15 miles north of Sloviansk. It had been the site of several battles in early 2022 when it was a frontline village between Russian and Ukrainian troops, although following the 2022 Kharkiv counteroffensive the village was liberated by Ukrainian forces.^[1] In late August 2025, Russian forces ramped up attacks on Ukrainian cities, killing 23 people in Kyiv.^[2]

The Russian missile strike hit the center of Yarova at 10:40am, while pensioners were lining up to receive their pensions from a mobile Ukrposhta van.^[3][4] The van had been parked under trees to avoid being targeted, and the local Ukrposhta head Igor Smelyansky said that they had been moving around the van and changing patterns to avoid targeting.^[4] Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said that the bomb was a guided air bomb, and that someone had possibly given away the coordinates of the pensioners.^[5]

Ukrainian emergency services said that 24 people had been killed, of whom 23 were elderly, and nineteen others were injured.^[6][3] By September 10, Donetsk Oblast governor Vadym Filashkin said that the death toll increased to 25 killed and 18 injured.^[7]